This should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever watched 22 men in short-shorts and knee socks kick a patterned ball around a grassy field: Soccer is officially out of the closet. This was a brave step for soccer to take, so I hope we can all be supportive. [Hat tip: Skojec] Â
The July/August issue of The Atlantic has a provocative lead article entitled “The End of Men,” by Hanna Rosin. Bound to raise some hackles, it’s a well-written, fascinating, worrisome piece that looks at women’s growing dominance in the West and considers whether the modern, post-industrial world is actually more suited to the female: Man has … Read more
Via the Anchoress comes the story of an Australian man who patrols the cliff across the street from his home, hoping to coax potential jumpers away from the edge: In those bleak moments when the lost souls stood atop the cliff, wondering whether to jump, the sound of the wind and the waves was broken … Read more
I’ve never read more than 50 pages of Redwall. My wife, I think, got to page 100. I know a lot of Christian and Catholic families love the series, but I’ve never heard them explain why. Personally, I didn’t like the fact that the animals were essentially monks-without-a-God (so far as I could tell). My … Read more
Carl Theodor Dreyer, the Danish director responsible for creating Almost-Certainly-The-Greatest-Silent-Film-Of-All-Time, has finally received our technocratic society’s greatest honor: his very own website. Welcome to the Carl Theodor Dreyer website, an expansive initiative of the DFI, making transparent and accessible the unique Carl Theodor Dreyer Collection. The aim of this site is to disseminate knowledge about … Read more
Well, the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance certainly thinks so, having recently released their Agenda for 2010. Among their priorities for the city of Washington, D.C., are maintaining gay marriage, increasing rights for the transgendered, decreasing bullying (finally, one I agree with!), protecting “red light” (strip club) districts, and legalizing prostitution. …other people’s personal choices … Read more
A new study has been released by the Commission on Parenthood’s Future, showing that young adults conceived by sperm donors generally fair more poorly than adopted children or those raised by their biological parents. The authors — which include Professor Norval Glenn of the University of Texas at Austin — surveyed more than 1 million … Read more
I had no idea this day even existed. I had to find out on the Facebook page of a 20-year old friend of mine. Today — June 15, 2010 — is the second annual National Man Day. Started by three brothers as a Facebook page, the idea has caught on with men across the country. … Read more
If you’re at all familiar with alternative medicine, you’ve heard of homeopathy. The system was first developed in the late 18th century, and served — at least for a time — as a chief competitor to what is now mainstream Western medicine. Unfortunately for proponents of the system — and I’m married to one — … Read more
On Drudge this morning: Bronx students forced to clean toilets as a punishment. “After school the principal came in with the inspector lady and she was like ‘Oh, everyone has to pitch in and clean the toilets and stuff.’ So we was cleaning them and we had to clean around them and nasty, it was … Read more
The image on the right, courtesy of Futility Closet, is one of the most unique images one could possibly find from the score to Chopin’s Étude No. 5, Op. 10, perhaps best known as the “Black Key Étude.” Why unique, you ask? Well, as FC points out in the original post, “the red F is noteworthy because … Read more
It might be a little quiet around the blog today — the staff of InsideCatholic is heading out to our twelfth annual Lazarus Golf Tournament in Fairfax, VA, for a day on the links with friends of the site. (It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it.) Feel free to make this an open … Read more
Yesterday was the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a traditional feast that goes back centuries. As a private devotion, it was commonplace by the sixteenth century and grew even more popular after a series of visions experienced by French visitation nun, Mary Margaret of Alacoque. Pope Pius IX made the devotion a feast … Read more
The late Dennis Hopper’s film is associated of course with the counter culture; in fact, in the 1970s it inspired a bunch of movies that did not exactly uphold the values of traditional morality and the Establishment. Now, or a few weeks ago at least, conservative commenters say that all along the film has been … Read more
The “Year of the Priest” has come to an end, and in his homily in St. Peter’s to mark the occassion, Pope Benedict had some strong and clear comments about the sex abuse scandal, reported by Reuters: Wearing white and gold vestments as he spoke to some 15,000 priests, Benedict said the year that was … Read more
Time for some links to get the morning rolling: As if the bill weren’t already controversial enough: The Senate Armed Services Committee approves an amendment to the bill seeking the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” that would allow abortions at military hospitals. Pope Benedict reaffirms celibacy during the closing events for the Year of … Read more
With World Cup festivities kicking off in South Africa today, I think I’m going to post this article by Stephen Webb (originally published at First Things last year) and then just back away slowly: Soccer is running America into the ground, and there is very little anyone can do about it. Social critics have long … Read more
An unusually wet spring, combined with an unusually large amount of snowmelt in the Wind River Mountains, has produced flood conditions in and around my hometown of Lander, Wyoming: In the largest state activation of the Wyoming National Guard in more than 10 years, more than 200 soldiers and airmen are working around the clock to … Read more
An unusually wet spring, combined with an unusually large amount of snowmelt in the Wind River Mountains, has produced flood conditions in and around my hometown of Lander, Wyoming: In the largest state activation of the Wyoming National Guard in more than 10 years, more than 200 soldiers and airmen are working around the clock to … Read more
Steve Ertelt at LifeNews.com has posted a complete list of President Obama’s record on abortion since taking office. Given the one year anniversary, it’s time to ask whether, since visiting Notre Dame, there has been any subtle or significant change in direction in Obama’s view of innocent human life. After all, President Jenkins, as you … Read more